Iodoalkanes, also known as alkyl iodides, are ubiquitous precursors and fundamental building blocks in organic synthesis due to their high reaction activities in various reactions such as alkylation, cross-coupling, reduction, addition, esterification, and the organometallic transformations. The common method for the preparation of iodoalkanes relies on the Finkelstein reaction and the iodination of corresponding alcohols. Direct addition of hydrogen iodide to alkenes has provided an atom economic strategy for the facile synthesis of iodoalkanes. Although the addition reaction of hydrogen iodide to alkenes have been introduced in many textbooks, it's reporting is quite limited in literatures due to the low reaction activity of aqueous hydrogen iodide. And the substrate scope also suffers from severe limitations due to the harsh reaction conditions. The reaction of silanes and iodine has provided a method for anhydrous hydrogen iodide generation, and its application in hydroiodination reactions has been reported. However, the unavoidable byproduct, iodo-silane has undermined the utility of this reaction, especially in the chemical industry.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide an atom economic procedure of preparing iodoalkanes by hydroiodination of alkenes.